Grating



1970 MC. DE JONGE 3,523,396

GRATING Filed April 29. 1968 FIG.1

ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 11, 1970 3,523,396 GRATING Martinus C. de Jonge,17 Hobbemalaan, Bilthoven, Netherlands Filed Apr. 29, 1968, Ser. No.724,848 Claims priority, application Netherlands, May 3, 1967, 6706205Int. Cl. E04c /04 US. Cl. 52668 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE Agrating having crossing longitudinal bars and cross bars, of which atleast the longitudinal bars are provided with slots of which at leastone of the sidewalls is provided with a projection by which the crossbars are reliably secured in the slots of the longitudinal bars.

This invention relates to a grating with crossing longitudinal bars andcross bars in which the longitudinal bars and/or cross bars are providedin slots with which portions of the cross bars and/or longitudinal barsare in engagement. Such gratings may be used for various purposes, forexample for platforms, floors, boiler houses or machinery houses andother industrial purposes, in which case they usually consist of steel,while they can also be used as ornamental gratings for ventilators,ventilation openings, air conditioning and similar purposes, in whichcase they are usually made from aluminium.

The invention aims at providing a grating of this kind which may beeasily and rapidly manufactured without the necessity of thelongitudinal bars and cross bars being welded to each other. This isaccomplished according to the invention in that at least one of thesidewalls of the slots of the longitudinal bars and/or cross bars areprovided with at least one projection. In consequence of the fact thateach time one or each projection of one bar penetrates into the materialof the other bar engaging or gripping around the first mentioned bar,both bars are anchored relative to each other in the longitudinal aswell as in the transverse direction so that they cannot shift relativeto each other and thus a firm unit is obtained. Since the bars need notbe welded to each other the corners of the crossing bars remain entirelyfree of projections so that the grating thus manufactured has a pleasingappearance.

A preferred embodiment of the grating according to the invention ischaracterized in that at least one sidewall of the slots merges via arounded or chamfered portion into the bottom of the slots. In this waythe material of the bar co-operating with the bar comprising aprojection is pressed behind said projection and thus a still betteranchoring of these bars relative to each other is accomplished.

The invention will be further explained below with reference to thedrawings showing by way of example some embodiments of the gratingaccording to the in vention.

These drawings show in:

FIG. 1 diagrammatically a top plan view of the grating;

FIG. 2 a section through part of the grating according to line IIII inFIG. 1;

FIG. 3 a view of part of a cross bar;

FIG. 4 a section through another embodiment of the grating.

The grating shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 comprises a plurality of longitudinalbars 1 and a plurality of cross bars 2, which cross at right angles.These longitudinal bars and cross bars consist of strips of metal,preferably of steel or aluminium. Around these longitudinal bars andcross bars a frame 3 is provided which may be constructed in any mannerknown per se. The ends of the longitudinal bars 1 and of the cross bars2 are connected with said frame 3 in a manner known per se. Theconstruction of the grating frame and the connection of the ends of thelongitudinal bars 1 and the cross bars 2 do not form part of theinvention so that these will not be further described.

As is apparent from FIG. 2 the longitudinal bars 1 have a greater heightthan the cross bars 2, but these bars may also have the same height. Thelongitudinal bars 1 are provided with slots 4. One sidewall 5 of eachslot 4 comprises a projection 6 projecting into said slot, saidprojection 6 being situated at a small distance from the slot bottom 7.The other sidewall 8 merges via a rounded portion 9 into the slot bottom7.

The cross bars 2 also comprise slots 10. The height h of the cross barportion positioned above the slots 10 is equal to the depth of the slots4 so that, when the cross bars 2 have been put in place, the uppersurfaces thereof are situated in one plane with the upper surfaces ofthe longitudinal bars 1.

FIG. 2 shows four different positions of a cross bar 2 in a longitudinalbar 1. The first position shows the cross bar 2 above the longitudinalbar 1. When the cross bar 2 is moved towards the longitudinal bar 1 theslot 10 arrives opposite the slot 4 of the longitudinal bar 1, afterwhich that portion of the cross bar 2 which is positioned above the slot4 enters said slot 4 and the portion of the longitudinal bar 1 situatedbelow the slot 4 enters the slot 10. The walls of the slots 4 and 10therefore slide along the sidewalls of the cross bars and longitudinalbars. Via the second position shown in FIG. 2 the cross bar 2 assumesthe third position shown in FIG. 2 in which the projection 6 penetratesinto the cross -bar 2. If thereupon the cross bar 2 is further moved theend of its portion positioned above the slot 10 meets the curved portion9 of the bottom 7 of the slot 4. Upon further movement of the cross bar2 the latter arrives in its final position which is shown as the fourthposition in FIG. 2. The end of the cross bar 2 is deformed by the curvedportion 9 so that the groove which the projection 6 has made in thebottom end of the cross bar when being pressed into the end of the slot4 is closed. Since the curved portion 9 is onlv small and, moreover, itis closed by the portions of the cross bar 2 lying against thelongitudinal bar 1 the thus formed rounded area of the portion of thecross bar 2 positioned in the slot 4 is not visible while nevertheless areliable mutual locking between the longitudinal bar and cross bar isaccomplished.

FIG. 4 shows an embodiment in which the height of each cross bar 11 isequal to the depth of the slots 12 in the longitudinal bars 13. Betweenthe sidewall 14 of the slot 4 and the bottom 15 thereof there isprovided in this embodiment a chamfered portion 16. The sidewall 17 ofthe slot 12 is provided with two projections 18.

It is obvious that the invention is not restricted to the embodimentsdescribed above and shown in the drawings, but that these may bemodified in many ways without departing from the scope of the invention.The profile of the longitudinal bars and the cross bars thereby does notplay a part. If required, the projections may be provided in the sameway as described and shown for the longitudinal bars, as is alsoapparent from FIG. 3, in the slots of the cross bars or both in thecross bars and in the longitudinal bars. In FIG. 3 such a projection 19is shown in view in the slots 10 of the cross bar 2.

I claim:

1. A grating with crossing longitudinal bars and cross bars, at leastsaid longitudinal bars being provided with slots with substantiallyparallel sidewalls into which portions of the cross bars grip, at leastone of the sidewalls of each of said slots being provided with at leastone projection extending into said slot by which the Width of said slotis diminished at said projection, the remaining sidewall, below saidprojection, being inclined towards said one sidewall and merging withthe bottom of said slot.

2. A grating according to claim 1, characterized in that the width ofthe portion of each of said slots in the longitudinal bars lying undersaid projection being smaller than the width of the portion of said slotlying above said projection.

3. A grating according to claim 1, characterized in that the inclinedportion of said remaining sidewall is a rounded portion directed towardsthe Wall provided with the projection.

4. A grating according to claim 1, characterized in that the inclinedportion of said remaining sidewall is a chamfered portion directedtowards the wall provided with the projection.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES 1,184,926,January 1965, German printed application, Walter.

ALFRED c. PERHAM, Primary Examiner

